Used in more than 30 countries, the RTDS simulator is considered the industry standard for real-time simulation. The simulator is comprised of NovaCor™, the most advanced hardware, and RSCAD®, the real-time electromagnetic transient simulation software, all developed entirely by RTDS Technologies Inc.

Benefits of real-time simulation: hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing

The RTDS Simulator runs electromagnetic transient type simulations in real time.

Real-time operation has a distinct benefit: it means that physical devices, such as power system protection and control devices or power electronics devices, can be connected to the simulated system in a closed loop. The interaction between the network and protection, control, and power devices during system transients can then be studied in great detail over a wide frequency bandwidth.

Unprecedented speed and efficiency through custom hardware

To achieve timesteps in the microsecond range, powerful, dedicated hardware is required. The RTDS Simulator’s current-generation hardware platform, called NovaCor™, has been custom developed for maximum power system simulation performance. It’s based on a multicore processor which allows simulation calculations to be done in parallel with unprecedented speed and efficiency. This means that less hardware is required to do larger and more complex power system simulations.

The RTDS Simulator’s hardware is highly modular. Each chassis contains a multicore processor with ten cores, any number of which can be licensed for use depending on the user’s simulation requirements. Multiple chassis can also be interconnected to achieve larger-scale simulations.

Industry-leading models produce accurate results

Throughout the simulation, the RTDS Simulator’s proprietary software, RSCAD®, runs on the user’s PC. RSCAD was developed specifically for running real-time power system simulations and communicates in real time with the simulation hardware.

Prior to running simulations, the RSCAD environment is used to create a detailed model of the power system or power electronics of interest. The RSCAD model library was developed by world-class power systems engineers and contains all the fundamental elements of a power system, as well as many specialized models – an internally-faulted phase domain synchronous machine, renewable energy models, standard-compliant generator control blocks, and more.

The advantages of the RTDS simulator

• Developed In-House- Unmatched user support
• Custom Built - High fidelity models at blazing speed
• Highly Modular - Multi-core or -chassis configurations